Toy Story
by caughtforCarlisle
Summary: Carlisle and Nessie bond over a shopping trip to a toy store. Unfortunately the trip turns sour when Nessie throws a tantrum and a human male decides to pay attention to Carlisle's pride and joy. Carlisle has to defend her.
1. Chapter 1 The Cutest Date Ever

Disclaimer: Rights belong to SM. I own the errors and the plot. I wish I owned Carlisle, maybe Jasper or both. Anyway I digress.

A/N: I decided to write one more little story before I post the next chapter of EC. I will then update BR, and then FKB. This is a little story I wrote about Carlisle and his little pumpkin Nessie. There are very man fics out there about Carlisle and his granddaughter. I have this one complete but will be posting the chapters separately. Enjoy.

Carlisle's POV

Papa, can we go to the toy store? Please?" Nessie asked me as I sat patiently waiting for her to finish her Chic-fil-A kid's meal. For the life of me, I couldn't understand how a child, who preferred animal blood as ninety percent of her diet, could even _remotely_ find that appetizing. She smiled at me and I could hear the fluttering of her heart as it pumped blood through her veins. She was quite adorable today. Edward had wisely dressed her in a pair of jeans and sweater-hoodie, and for that I was grateful. The physician in me wouldn't have been able to take the child out in this unsympathetic weather without proper clothing.

"Sure baby. As soon as you finish eating your lunch we can go." Her face lit and I stretched my eyes in an exaggeration and smiled at her. She was so precious and indeed my child. Of course, she biological belonged to my son, but I still laid claim to her. She was a Papa's girl and her parents gave me plenty of leeway to spend time with her like this. Most of the time Esme came with us, but she was out of town this weekend on a trip with the girls. Edward and the boys were on a hunting trip, so it was just me and my princess today.

There was no reasonable explanation for Nessie's existence other than God himself had decided that I was worthy of the love of a beautiful child. Since I couldn't have one with Esme, my grandchild was my very own miracle; created especially for me. She was a beaming light in my world, and I couldn't imagine my life without her in it. Edward had given me a blessing that I wasn't able to give myself, and I gave thanks every day for her.

Nessie stole my heart from the moment I laid eyes on her. I told Esme that another female had finally won my affection because I was head-over-heels in love with this child. I would do anything that was within my power for her. Everyone in my house knew this. Bella and Edward often scolded me for going overboard with her and spoiling her rotten, but they knew how much I enjoyed her. Her birth changed me—all of us for the better. We had always been a loving and supportive family, but she brought new meaning to our lives. She was jovial and loved to cuddle. She loved to run and play, to tease her uncles, or play dolls with her aunts. No one in the Cullen house tired of little Nessie.

It was quite hilarious that we all fought over her as if she was the cherished gold medal. I would like to think that I was her favorite; her first drafts pick, but somehow I think Jasper would fight me for that title. She loved hanging out with him and I would never tell Emmett, but I believed Jasper was her favorite uncle. That was just my opinion. Still, I was her favorite out of everyone in the house no matter how much they negated said fact.

Jasper and Alice loved for Nessie to sleep in their room when she came over. I did too and Esme never objected to the cutest little intruder invading our bed. Her parents objected, citing we needed our 'rest' and our 'privacy,' but we allowed her to from time to time. What could it hurt? She loved being close to us, and we enjoyed having her near us-especially Esme and Rose. Nessie was an answered prayer, and they seemed happier when Nessie was around.

Renesmee understood the ground rules quite well. She was very advanced for her age. She knew that whether or not her parents were around, she had to obey me and Esme as well as her aunts and uncles, and failure to do so carried consequences. It was rare that Nessie did anything to warrant too much trouble, but occasionally she got sticky. As will any child her age, she would often 'play in the wrong pond' and get into all kinds of mischief, but overall she was a well-mannered child and avoided such misbehavior.

Again, it was a _rare_ and I do mean a _rare_ occasion when she got in trouble with her aunts and uncles. When she did, she would usually give them her 'puppy-is-sad' look and they would end up babying her and giving in to what she wanted. The exception was with Emmett last week when she broke one of his new video games. He was a little more than perturbed and yelled at her for bothering his things without permission. She started crying as usual, but he made sure our leather couch held her firmly in place until Esme and I came home. When we walked in the door, her eyes were full of tears, arms crossed defiantly over her little chest, and poked out lips quivering. Of course, Emmett released her from her punishment at that point and when I walked over to her she jumped in my arms. Emmett explained what happened and Esme and I had a good talk with her about respecting other people's personal property. She apologized to Emmett and they became best buds again. It was pretty comical. The princess and her bear—bonding for life.

When it came to Esme and me, we just grounded her by taking something from her or not allowing her to go somewhere, but there _were_ occasions we had to get a _little_ stricter. I had only spanked Renesmee once, and that was when she threw a hurricane force tantrum and destroyed several of my most valuable books and journals, along with a lamp and my Mac laptop. She was upset because she didn't want to go to bed, and ripped through my study like a Tasmanian devil. She wanted to stay up with Jasper and Emmett, but it was already three hours past her bedtime. The little stinker became very disruptive when we tried to put her down for the night. She hauled off and stomped my foot then ran from me and into my study. Once inside she locked the door and decided to go a 'destroy-Carlisle's-prized-possessions-spree.'

After all was said and done, she ended up getting my belt for the first time in her life. Even though she deserved it, it broke my heart more than anything and I felt horrible. I'd spanked my children from time to time when they were "growing up" and when I felt they needed further correction, and though I always felt bad afterwards, it didn't compare to the feeling I had when I spanked my littlest angel.

I had certainly hoped that I would never have to spank Nessie. I knew that Edward spanked her because usually he or she would come running to me crying afterwards. He hated to discipline her like that and honestly used corporal punishment for serious, life-threatening infractions. Truthfully, he'd only spanked once or twice and it probably wasn't even a real spanking; certainly not like the ones he'd received. Normally, he was putty in his spoiled little girl's hands, but he put his foot down when he had to.

"Papa you should try these waffle fries. They are very good." She bit into one, shaking her head. Her ringlets bounced as she did, illuminating her innocence. She smiled as she nibbled and offered me one.

"Noooo thank you, baby girl." I frowned and shook my head. She giggled when I waved my 'no way' hands. "You go right ahead. That's _all_ you sweetheart."

She nibbled again. "Papa, you're so silly." She smiled chewing like one of those chipmunks she and I had just finished watching on the big screen. She'd been dying to see that new movie '_Chipwrecked_,' so I'd promised her I'd take her this weekend. Of course, she wasn't going to allow me to forget _that_ promise. She'd worried me all week about it, and I promised her countless times that we would go see it as soon as Saturday came. It didn't come fast enough for either of us.

I smiled and winked at her as she busied herself with her lunch. I crossed my legs to make myself appear more comfortable, and checked my emails and texts on my I-Phone that Edward had bought me for Christmas. I was personally content with my old flip phone, but my son _insisted_ that I come out of the Stone Age, so I reluctantly agreed to switch.

There was a text from him that read: "_Hey Dad. Are you guys having fun? Tell Nessie I love her and miss her. Love you too."_

I replied to his text: "_We are having a great time as always. Love my baby…oh and I guess I love you too."_

Within seconds he replied: "_Ha ha, old man. What are you guys up to?"_

"_Nessie is finishing up her chuck o'lunch, and then we're off to the toy store." _I replied._ "We just finished the film. I cannot comprehend the entertainment in talking rats."_

"_LOL." _Was his response. _"Welcome to my world. Don't buy Nessie any toys. She has enough junk. And make her mind you. If she doesn't, spank her behind if you have to."_

I shook my head and laughed, delaying my response when I heard Nessie saying something to me.

"_I'm serious, Dad. We don't need more stuff, so don't buy anything. We don't have room."_

I texted him back. _"Not my problem. Ttyl."_

"_It's staying at your house." _He warned.

"_Chao son. Love you."_

"_Not as much as I love you."_

That last text brought a prideful smile to my face. I knew he meant it and words could not express how that made me feel inside the cold hollow of my chest. Edward would always be my baby, no matter how much he resisted being referred to as such.

I sat the phone down, smiling.

"Papa, a dime for your thoughts." Nessie interrupted my little moment.

"A _dime_?" She smiled. "A _whole_ _dime_?" She covered her mouth with her tiny hand. "What happened to a penny?"

She shrugged and held up her palms with chicken in one and a fry in the other. "Inflation Papa."

"Ah."

_What the hell was I thinking?_

"So what are smiling about, Papa?" She asked. A blonde haired woman sitting at the table next to us smiled when I looked in her direction. I was actually reading a sign, but she apparently thought I was looking at her. I smiled back and nodded my head to acknowledge her presence.

"Oh, nothing. I was just reading a text from your father. He says he loves and misses you."

"Oh, Daddy misses me." She took another slow bite. "Papa, Mommy misses me too, right?" She asked seeking validation.

The blonde haired woman smile again. She appeared to be quite interested in my table. I couldn't be sure if she could hear what we were saying over the steady buzzing of other diners and shoppers, so I lowered my voice.

"But of course, princess. Everyone misses you when you're not around." The woman flipped her hair and smiled at Nessie who was beaming and nibbling like a mouse. This child was the slowest eater I've ever met.

"Is she your first?" The woman asked turning in her chair to face me. I smiled politely and turned in time to see her cross her legs. She was a beautiful woman, but paled in comparison to Esme.

_Now how am I going to resolve this? _

"Um…yes. She's my first." I said. It wasn't a lie. She was my first grandchild. This stranger didn't need _all _of the details.

The woman smiled and shifted so her skirt could rise a little higher. She leaned to adjust something on her shoe so that her cleavage was in full view. She was really pulling out the guns…literally. She looked up at me but held her current position.

"I have a son about her age." Nessie kept eating, playing with the toy that came in the meal. We had taught her to be 'very human' so she maintained a normal profile. The woman was not suspicious at all.

"I'll bet he's a sport." I offered, easily keeping my focus on her eyes instead of what she _wanted_ me to focus on. I noticed that she'd inched her chair closer to mine and I bit my lip to keep from laughing. I was used to this at work and just about everywhere I went. It pissed Esme off, but I just shrugged it off and ignored it.

"Oh he is." She turned towards my little granddaughter. "What's your name?" She asked her, winking. She was sitting parallel at my side now, her thigh about a foot away from mine.

Nessie smiled politely and was still chewing her food. "Nessie." She said.

"Oh what a pretty name for a pretty girl." The woman mused. She pulled her hair back causing her chest to heave. She smelled really good. I shook it off.

My sweet little cherub smiled again. "Thank you. It's really Renesmee, but Nessie is my every day name. I like that name."

The woman nodded. "Well I like them both."

"What's your name?" Renesmee asked.

As if this was the moment she'd been waiting for, the blonde said, "Ellen." She looked over at me and beamed. "What's his name?" She asked pointing at me. I brushed the tip of my nose and ducked my head to hide the smile on my face. I was sure she saw it anyway.

_The one day I forgot my wedding band._

"My Gammy's name starts with an "E" like yours." Nessie danced in her chair. "Her name is Esme."

I nearly choked on a laughed that I swallowed.

_Way to go Nessie! Good looking out._

"Oh well I'll bet your Gammy is something special." She winked at her. "You never did tell his name." She smiled at me and I smiled back.

Nessie sighed. "His name is Carlisle." She scratched her head. "He's a hawtie."

My eyes widened and I swear I blushed. I didn't have to guess where she'd learned that terminology. I was sure it came from Rose or Emmett, possibly Jasper or Alice…hell maybe even her parents.

"I—uh…" I stammered.

"Yes he is."

_Oh for the eternal love of God._

"That's what my Gammy, Auntie Alice, and Auntie Rosie always says when they don't know that I'm listening. They think he's cute." She sniggled again and I slid further down in my chair. There was _absolutely _zero privacy in our home.

Nessie giggled. It was obvious that Nessie thought the woman understood that I was her grandfather, but the woman had somehow missed that bit of information. I think she was thinking that Nessie's Gammy was my—'mother?'

_Now that's just an incorrigible assumption. _I shivered at the thought. _That's just damn revolting._

"I agree with them." Ellen turned towards me and laughed at my embarrassment. She extended her hand and flinched when she felt the chill and firmness of mine in hers. "Hi, Carlisle. I'm Ellen."

"Hi." I said shyly. "Um…please don't pay her any attention."

"I think she's adorable." She was glowing. "You know what they say? If you want the truth ask a child. Children will tell your business."

"Yeah, _they _are always saying something."

Ellen laughed. "Your daughter is quite the charmer." She whispered when Nessie dropped her toy. She caught it before it hit the floor, almost too fast.

"Yes. Yes she is."

I was not shocked that Ellen thought I was Nessie's father. I might have been three hundred years old, but I looked every day of twenty-three. I could as best pass for maybe twenty-seven if I dressed the part. At work most people thought I was about twenty-nine or thirty depending on my attire and demeanor.

For my special day with Nessie, I'd dressed comfortably in Abercrombie and Fitch jeans and the matching navy deer brook sweater, and certainly did not look anywhere near somebody's grandfather. I should have corrected her, but I wouldn't have been able to pass the lie that I had Edward when I was young. I would have had to have him at twelve to fourteen, but that would make him a father at like nine to eleven years old. In _that_ case, unless Bella was a mere minor herself, _someone _was going to jail for sexual assault on a minor, and Esme and I was going to catch a child welfare case for not supervising him properly.

"Um-" I started.

"Don't worry. They all are at that age." She interrupted. "My son is a handful. He's with his father today, unfortunately. But what can I do? Visitation is visitation. Court's rule." She smiled. "At least you _actually_ do stuff with your daughter on the weekends. My son's deadbeat father just lets him stay in the house and play video games and fill him up with junk while he plays 'poke-her' with his girlfriend."

_Wow. _

"Do you live around here?" She moved in for the kill and shifted her legs so I could see a lot more skin.

"Papa!" The woman looked surprised when Nessie referred to me as her Papa. "I'm done!"

_Thank you blessed Lord!_

I immediately stood up and started to clear the table.

"Can we go to Build-A-Bear now, Papa?" She asked getting out of her chair.

"Put your coat and cap on, please Nessie." I picked up her tray and smiled to the woman who looked quite confused. Nessie busied herself at almost inhuman speed putting on her clothes. Good thing the woman was too busy trying to figure out if I was Nessie's father. She certainly didn't look like me. That should have been a dead giveaway. If Edward had been here with us, she would have known instantly who the father was. Nessie looked just _like_ him.

"There's no hurry, sweetheart." She instantly slowed her motion when she registered the silent instruction for her to slow down on my face.

"Okay." She said. "Papa, you said we could go get toys when I got done eating." She reminded me again.

"I said we could go buy _one_ toy when you finished." I corrected her. I was already going to have to bat Edward off about bringing home stuff. I certainly didn't need to be in trouble for buying out the store.

I carried the tray to the trash can and walked back to the table. We adjusted our chairs and I smiled at Ellen who was looking me over with interest. I was so glad Nessie had gotten me out of this hot water. I would have had to let her down easily. Esme was my one and only.

"Well, you have a great day." I said politely, smiling to her as I put my cap and scarf on. Nessie was at my side now pulling on the hem of my sweater. "It's very cold out. Try to stay warm."

She stood up and pulled her skirt down before sitting in the chair again. "Oh yeah. You too." She turned to Nessie. "Have fun at the Build-A-Bear store. I hear they have Build-A-Princess today."

I looked down at my beautiful little granddaughter whose eyes widened like saucers. "Papa, let's go!"

I laughed. "Alright. Alright." I briefly wondered if my admirer noticed my latent British accent. "We're going."

We waved to the very disappointed young lady and left to go to the store. I walked ahead of her stopping briefly to take Nessie's little chubby hand. She might be half vampire, but she was very much half human. More importantly she was in my care and I certainly didn't feel like beating somebody's ass for trying to snatch her in this crowded mall. She took it and skipped along beside me, earning me several adoring looks from the ladies as we passed them. Of course, I flash them the magic Cullen charm and they melted. I smiled to myself, thinking Esme would be slapping my arm right now if she were here.

A/N: Well there you have it. Carlisle spending some time with his little one. How about this trick in the mall all up on him? Not that I blame her though…he is hawt! I love Carlisle. He is by far my favorite character. As I said earlier, I did something I've never done before. I finished a story before I started publishing. It is complete but I want to post as several chapters. Please leave your reviews. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2 Build-A-Princess

I own 100 percent of the errors. That's about it.

A/N: Carlisle takes his little princess shopping…what could possibly go wrong? Enjoy

Carlisle's POV

We entered the store and I immediately regretted promising Nessie that I would take her in there. What man…in his everlasting right mind…promised a three year old that he would take her in a place like this? Well _technically_, she was chronologically almost twenty months old, but she looked _exactly_ like a three year old. In spite of this, her higher level reasoning, writing, and reading ability would put her at about a mental age of five or six; although at times she acted "brand new" and seemed to be mentally functioning at age three. I had deducted months ago that she did that on purpose to get attention.

The place was bustling with children and their parents, some of whom were looking like they were feeling the same way I was about this venture. Nessie immediately ran far ahead of me to the princess section so she could get in on the enchanted fun. She easily blended with the crowd and I could barely she her little head in the sea of running, laughing, and jumping children. I picked up my pace so I could catch up with her, noticing that I was pretty much getting the same reaction from the women that I'd received earlier in the mall. They were gawking at me, salivating like I was a piece of meat.

"Papa, this way!" Nessie bounced, motioning for me to come near her. "Hurry Papa!"

_I sure hope these people think that's just the word she uses for Daddy. I got away once. I hope I don't have to try to explain the twenty-three year old grandfather thing again._

I walked towards her and immediately scolded her for running off. "Nessie." I said firmly, not smiling at her. I took her hand and pulled her gently towards me. I bent so that I was eye level with her. "Do…not…run off like that again." She stuck her cherry red lips out in a pitiful pout. It hurt my heart to chastise her, but this store was too crowded for her to be running all over the place. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. Papa just wants you to be safe. You have to stay by my side at all times. Okay?" A lady standing next to me offered me a sympathetic smile. Her child was sniffling as if she'd had to get on to her as well.

Nessie nodded. "Okay."

"Alright. If you run off again, we're leaving." She nodded her understanding. "I love you baby."

She twisted side to side. "I love you too Papa." She said softly and buried her face in my thigh.

"Okay let's go."

I wiped her tears with my thumbs before taking her hand to move us forward. We moved closer to the swirl of pink and I felt my head swoon. This was _way _too feminine for me, and I was used to embracing femininity in my world. Thanks to Alice, Rosalie, and even Esme, my humble abode _oozed_ with it, down to the pink rhinestone covered paperweight Alice gave me for my desk in my study. This section of the store was covered in every shade of pink, purple, and white with rows and rows of coveted 'bling.' This was a girl's paradise. From birth to one hundred, any girly-girl would call this her playground. They must have spent a fortune turning this into the 'princess wonderland' for their Build-A-Princess event. I was truly awed, and that usually didn't happen all that much. In fact, the last time I was this amazed was when the princess next to me was born.

We stood patiently in the line; well at least I did. Nessie was antsy, excited about building her new friend. We reached the front of the line and a store clerk gave us our name tags and instructed us to choose a bear to fill. Nessie, of course, chose the pinkest bear she could find. She certainly had not inherited her girlish tendencies from her mother. Bella was a tomboy. Nessie was every bit the princess that the other three women in the house had created.

"Papa can I have this one?" She asked showing me the flattened, fuzzy bear.

"Yes baby. Are you sure that's the one you want?" I knew Nessie. She had a history of choosing a toy, and then several minutes later realizing her choice was not the one she wanted. I wasn't going through that drama today.

"Yes. I'm sure." She hugged the furry material to her chest.

"Alright. Then that is the one we'll get." I told her. "We're not changing it later, okay?" She nodded. "Once you fill it, you have to keep it."

"Welcome to Build-A-Bear where we pride ourselves in offering positive family fun." A very cheery associate greeted us. She was dressed in a pink polo bearing the company logo and a pink tiara. She was wearing pink lipstick and matching nail polish with bracelets in every size and shape from her wrists to her elbows. Her khaki pants were embellished with pink and clear rhinestone gems, and her shoes sparkled with pink glitter. She had her hands on her slender waist and was twisting side to side. I could tell she loved her job and was totally adapting to her role in the 'dream weaving.' I just shook my head and smiled at her.

_Aye! The things we grandfathers do for our little ones. I wonder if the Disney store actually goes to this great length for their princesses._

She bent to eye level with my little munchkin and read her name tag. "Hi, Nessie. I'm Lyndsay."

"Hi." Nessie shook her hand when she extended it. "Nice to meet you."

"I see you've chosen a very pretty furry friend there." Nessie nodded. "She's pretty."

"Thank you." Nessie said politely.

_She's so well-behaved. Absolutely perfect._

"Have you thought about a name yet?" Nessie smiled and look at me. I smiled back.

"What do you think Papa?" She asked. The amber tones in her brown eyes seem to dance under the artificial light. She was naturally beautiful like her mother. No doubt there, but she was so angelic. My heart just melted when she looked at me with such juvenile inquisitiveness.

"Hmmm…I'm not sure sweet pea. What do you have in mind?" I pretended to think when I saw her trying to process her decision. This was too cute. "I'm sure you have a very nice one for her."

"I was kind of thinking _Aurora_." She twisted her lips. "But I guess I'm not really sure." I'd been a doctor, father, and grandfather long enough to know that _Aurora_ was a Disney Princess. Of course my princess would choose _that_ name. She looked at Lyndsay for validation. On cue, she agreed.

"That's a wonderful name." She clapped her hands and bounced on her heels. She was so bubbly and Nessie squealed, swinging our arms in excitement. I just shook my head and laughed.

_Way too much estrogen ladies._

"Alright Nessie. We want _Aurora_ to be able to talk, so you can either record your own message or choose one of ours. Either way, I'm sure you'll love to hear her speak." Lyndsay led us over to the recording station and Nessie chose to record her own voice. It was quite adorable watching her record her message. She kept stammering over her words and she had to record it a couple of times before she got it right.

"Alright Nessie, let's head over to the "Stuff Me" station so you can help me stuff her and give her a big hug to make sure she's just right." Lyndsay took Nessie's hand with me tugging closely behind. I stopped abruptly when two little boys darted in front of me. When I stopped, an even younger tot, probably around age two, darted between my legs. I laughed.

"Dude, I'm sorry." I presumed the man apologizing was their father. "These kids are driving me crazy."

I laughed. "It's quite alright. No worries." He left and I saw him giving them a good tongue lashing before I moved to catch up with Nessie and Lyndsay.

Nessie was glowing. We went to the station and Nessie helped put stuffing in her new bear. Lyndsay, who was fumbling in a drawer for something, looked like she was no older than sixteen. She gave me a flirtatious smile.

_Jail bait. _I smiled politely back to her.

"Now, Nessie we are going to give your little friend her very own heart." Lyndsay handed a red heart shaped object to Nessie. "Now rub it in your hands to warm it up." Nessie started rubbing vigorously. "Now make a wish and put it inside of her." Nessie squeezed her little innocent eyes as tightly as she could and I couldn't help but laugh. Her heart was really the _true_ magic in this. She put the red heart in the bear. "Now you will always remember giving her life."

Nessie smiled up at me again. I patted her hat. "Wow. That's pretty awesome, sweetheart."

She nodded and glanced at the clerk again. They proceeded with the final stitching of Nessie's new princess and I folded my arms as I watched in silence. Nessie was intrigued by this little process, and her youthful virtue was magical.

"Are we going to wash her now?" Nessie asked.

"Yes. As a matter of fact we are." They walked ahead of me to the "Spa" station. I was still following closely behind. While they busied themselves with brushing and washing, I noticed a gentleman in the back of the store watching Nessie's interaction with Lyndsay. I'd seen him early out of my peripheral vision, and had been keeping a watchful eye on him. He seemed quite interested in my little precious flower, and my protection instinct instantly kicked in. I suppressed a growl, but a low guttural groan managed to escape. The clerk was oblivious to it, but Nessie heard me. She turned around and I immediately stepped closer to her and put my arm around her smiling to reassure her that everything was okay. She barely smiled, unsure of what was happening. I winked at her and hugged her to me.

"It's alright, baby." I whispered so fast and low, no one heard it but her. The guy must have seen me watching him because he'd turned his back to us and acted as if he was staring at some merchandise.

"Since you've already given her a name, we're going to make her a birth certificate." The clerk handed her the bear and they walked over the computer which was very near the stranger in the corner.

"Cool!" Nessie exclaimed.

She reached for Nessie's hand, but my protection instinct was fierce. I quickly grabbed my baby's hand and pulled her closely alongside me, trying desperately to keep a calm profile. I didn't want Nessie to intercept my concern and become fearful. That was the _last_ thing I wanted.

I kept my eyes on the chap in the corner as he inched further away from us so he could watch my little angel from a comfortable distance. I'd sensed that he was not kindred, definitely all human by his rapidly beating heart, but he was without a doubt up to no good; and _apparently_ Nessie was a source of interest for him. Little did this son-of-a-bitch know, but he was slowly starting to write a check for his own demise.

"Nessie, when you personalize her birth certificate, we put all of her information in our system. That way if you ever lose her and someone finds her we can make sure she's safely returned to you."

"Hopefully she won't get lost." Nessie responded. "I plan to take good care of her. Papa will help me keep her safe. Right, Papa?"

I smiled at the trust my sweet girl put in me. She trusted me to protect a lifeless stuff animal, and her parents trusted me with her life; which was all the more reason for me to keep my focus on the blighter standing opposite of us.

"Of course, I will baby." _But I will definitely keep 'you' safe._

They finished putting the data in and headed towards the plethora of doll clothing. I vaguely heard the clerk informing Nessie that it was time to dress her bear. I was about ready to wrap this up so I could take her out of this store.

The man made his way out of the store when I challenged him to a stare down. If he had half of brain and good eyesight, I was sure he saw my eyes darkened a few shades. I slowly turned and saw him standing near the door. When I turned around, Nessie had about ten doll outfits complete with accessories and shoes in her basket. Lyndsay shrugged and Nessie handed me the pink ball of fur she'd name Aurora.

"I tried to tell her she wouldn't need all of these, but she said every girl needs bling." Lyndsay explained.

_I'm sure she did. She hears that all the time from her Aunt Alice. Unfortunately for her, I am much more conservative than Alice. She wasn't getting all of these items today. _

"That particular bear is sixty dollars." She informed me. I hadn't even bothered to look at the price when the darling picked it out. Not that it mattered.

"Mmmm…hmmm." The peculiar man turned and briefly glanced at us and smirked. He moved his eyes from mine and glanced down at Nessie, and back at me, mimicking a kiss when he did so.

_What the hell?_

"Sixty dollars is fine." I told her trying my best not to tear this store up to get to the jerk standing at the door. He was _really _on his last leg. He must have had a warrant for his death even _thinking_ about toying with Nessie like that.

"Did you want to keep all of these clothes?" She asked and Nessie watched me to see what I was going to say.

"Um…no." I said firmly. "We are not buying all of these."

Nessie immediately went into defense of her loot. "But Papa. I _want_ them." She whined and folded her arms as the clerk moved to ring up the bear and the outfit of her choosing. "_You_ said I could have toys."

"I realize that honey, but you simply cannot have them all." Nessie stomped her foot and stuck her lip out further. _Here we go. _"Now please choose the one you want so we can leave."

Nessie's eyes brimmed with tears. "But _why_ Papa?"

_Oh the whining must stop_.

"Plee-aase." She begged.

"No. How about this pink outfit Lyndsay chose for you?" I picked up the lacey Cinderella dress. "It's perfect for your princess bear."

"You _lied_ to me." Nessie jerked away from me and crossed her arms defiantly. She scowled at me. "You said I could have them!"

I stooped in front of her. "Nessie, that's _enough_ of this ridiculous behavior. Now I said no." Tears streamed down her face. "Nessie don't start that. If you're going to behave like this, then you won't get any at all."

She folded her bony arms tighter and cried. "It's not fair!" I smiled at the clerk who tried to make another suggestion for her. "I don't want that one!" She protested.

We were starting to hold up the line and the stranger outside was inching a little closer into the store again. I gently took her shoulders in my hands trying to deescalate this little tantrum before it got completely out of hand. I was accustomed to diffusing arguments and protests from children, but little Nessie was one tough little cookie.

"Nessie!" I pressed my lips firmly to keep calm. "Do you want one of those or not?" More tears and a pouty face answered the question. I turned towards the clerk. "I'm very sorry. Could you just scan the bear, please?" Lyndsay nodded. "Thank you."

"NO! PAPA!" She reached for my hand to stop me from putting the clothes back in the basket.

"Then choose one Nessie so we can leave." I stated firmly, but calmly. Lyndsay hesitated before scanning any of the items to see which outfit Nessie would choose.

"But _why_ can't I-"

I turned my attention back to the clerk. "Please just go ahead and ring the bear. If you don't mind just put the rest of the things back."

Nessie was bawling against my leg begging for all of the clothes. Lyndsay gave me my total and I reached for my wallet.

"Papa you're mean." She accused, wiping her soaked faced on my jeans.

I ignored her.

"I'm not your friend." She said tearfully.

_Well it will be okay I promise._

"I don't want that bear!" She pouted and moved about three feet in distance from me. There were other parents in the store who was dealing with similar situations with their children, so they told me they understood. Nessie was really starting to push my buttons with the temper tantrum. I held my finger out to the clerk to halt this process, and motioned for Nessie to come back to me.

"Renesmee Cullen. Get over here right now." I charged through clenched teeth. She heard the sternness in my voice and knew that I was _done_ playing around with her. I refused to budge one inch from my spot. Nessie was a child and I was about to let her _think _that she was in charge. I loved her dearly, but I didn't even put up with this type of disrespect from her parents. I certainly wasn't going to tolerate it from her. She slowly crept back to my side and stood their frowning with her arms crossed over her small frame. "Don't move away from me again." She snatched away from me and I whispered in her ear. "Do we need to go to the bathroom Nessie?"

She alternated between balling up her lips and sniffling to keep from crying.

"Nessie?" I asked. She knew if we had to go to that bathroom, things would not end well for her.

"No!"

"Then pull it together right now young lady."

"I'm telling Gammy on you Papa." She threatened.

I ignored her and turned my attention back to Lyndsay. "I'm very sorry." I apologized again.

Lyndsay smiled. "Oh there's no need to apologize. Kids see all of our wonderful merchandise and lose it. It's okay." She seemed to be having some kind of difficulty with her register and I waited patiently for her to right it. While I waited, she chatted about random teddy bear stuff and made a suggestion for the first outfit Nessie had chosen.

"I SAID I DIDN'T WANT THAT ONE!" Nessie screamed pulling at my pants leg. Everyone in that god forsaken bear den stopped what they were doing and stared at us.

_This is so embarrassing. _

Lyndsay was startled, but went back to work on the machine with her manager who looked like she wanted to tell me to tear Nessie's butt up and end this ordeal for the sake of her customers. She refrained.

I leaned down again and whispered to her. "Nessie, you are already in very hot water for misbehaving. You know better than to act like this. Please calm yourself."

She jerked away from my grip and stomped her foot. Unfortunately when she did, it landed on mine. It was a good thing I was practically reinforced with steel; otherwise my foot would have been broken. I shook my head is disgust and disbelief. Lyndsay finally got the machine working properly and gave me a final total. I handed her a one hundred dollar bill.

"Lyndsay thank you for kindness and patience today. Since my little one chooses to misbehave and be ungrateful for her gift, please donate that to another child who may be less fortunate than she."

Nessie really started crying then. She put her little cherub fists on the side of her eyes and bawled. Tears rapidly fell down her face because she was so distressed over the situation that she'd created. Lyndsay honored my request and the manager assured me that the gift would be donated. It took several more minutes for them to finish and for me to complete a donation slip for the bear. At this point, I had no problem in doing that. My young granddaughter needed a solid lesson on gratitude. I thanked them and turned to leave. It was then that I noticed Nessie was gone.

A/N: Awww…Carlisle really loves Nessie. I think these two are adorable together. Poor Carlisle…diagnosis… Estrogenitis.

Now where is little Nessie? I know, I know. A cliffy, but don't worry. The next chapter is complete. Hope you enjoyed. Please review. Love to hear your feedback.


	3. Chapter 3 Lost and Found

Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight characters and the traits she gave them. This is my plot and of course any errors belong to me.

A/N: Let's find out what happened to Nessie. Where is she? And what happens when Carlisle finds her. Thanks for all of you who read the last two chapters and reviewed. Your feedback is appreciated. Thanks for those who favored and are following the story. Enjoy.

Carlisle's POV

"Nessie?"

I spun around at a semi-human pace several times looking for her. She seemed to have completely faded in this crowded store. I moved away from the check-out counter and rushed about the store searching for her. I went to the princess area again and then to the bathroom. Since I couldn't go into the women's restroom, I called for her. When she didn't answer me, I used my superior hearing and smell to determine whether or not she was in there. Her scent was latent in other parts of the store, but not very strong near where I was standing. I then quickly deducted that Nessie was more than likely not in the store.

I nervously glanced toward the exit and panicked when I realized that the mindless chap was no longer near the store. To keep from alarming the other customers, I refrained from shouting her name, but swiftly made my way to the door. I stepped outside the store quickly surveying the area, but there was no sign of my child anywhere. I took a deep breath and tried to isolate Nessie's scent and voice from hundreds. Her scent was strong out in the hall, and I hurriedly combed the area for her.

_Oh Nessie, where are you sweetheart?_

My cell phone rang in my pocket and I turned on my earpiece. It was Alice.

"Alice, where is she?" I was trying to stop panicking, but Nessie's disappearance was sending me over the edge.

"Daddy, she's outside. The gentleman you saw is outside. He saw her run out of the store and he left behind her. Nessie is walking in the direction of the south side entrance. She's moving fast, but he's pretty much keeping up with her. There aren't very many cars on that side and it looks like he's going to try to pull her inside a vacant cavity near the loading dock."

I started jogging towards the outside exit mindful that I was still in this very public and crowded shopping center. I forced myself to run at an above average human pace towards the door. Once outside and guided by Nessie's scent, I kept running toward the south side. Alice was still in my ear piece. I would have to thank Edward for that gift later. It was quite useful when running to beat somebody's ass for trying to kidnap my granddaughter.

"Alice?" My feet were pounding the gravel now and objects became a blur when I darted passed them. "Alice where's my baby?"

"Daddy, Nessie just realized that the man is following her. She stopped for a minute which gave him a chance to catch up. I see two things happening. Either she's thinking about retaliating or she's going to run. If she attacks him, it will be bad."

I ran faster, turning the heads of curious mall shoppers. All I could think about was getting to my little girl…and fast!

"Alice?"

"She's scared Daddy. She doesn't know how to respond. She afraid of doing anything that will draw attention to her, but she's about start running towards the cavity." Alice was starting to panic too. "Daddy it's dim in there and no outlet on Nessie's side. Daddy he's going to try to…oh God Daddy!"

I pushed harder with one thought on my mind; defend and protect that sweet, innocent girl at all costs. We'd taught Nessie to be inconspicuous, and judging from what Alice was telling me, we'd done a pretty good job at that. She knew she was in danger and yet tried to keep our secret. I briefly wondered if she understood that if she attacked him she could cause some backlash, and if that was her conflict about this. She wasn't venomous, but she was strong enough to do some serious damage to that man; which would mean the rest of us would have to do serious damage 'control.'

Even though she was half human, Nessie was still stronger than this guy on his best day. If she was brave enough to try, she could probably snap the degenerate in half. I couldn't be sure that she fully grasped that concept. I would have to ask her later, but for now I just had to find her. We needed to talk to her about protecting herself in situations like these. She needed to be taught to handle herself and still keep her cover. There was no excuse for allowing someone to harm her just to protect us. We couldn't allow that.

"Alice I don't see them."

"They're just ahead Daddy." I followed Nessie's scent and the pounding of two heartbeats into a small alley, and saw her running for her life from that scallywag.

_I don't understand any of this. Nessie can outrun him. She can glide off walls and jump over his damn head. She has to know she possesses the ability to fight a grown man, at best evade him._ _I've seen Nessie run and chase animals in the forest. I've seen her and Jacob racing each other. I've seen her running from her father in a game of cat and mouse. She can keep up with the best of them. Why is she so afraid? Surely she knows that it's okay to use her speed and other inhuman facilities when she's in danger. _

Watching this totally baffled me. Was the human emotion of fear so great that it could paralyze her vampire senses too? Could it suspend her superior rational thought? It was as if her vampire instincts were frozen and her humanity _completely_ took over. It couldn't _just_ be that she was trying not to draw attention. If that were the case, she would have just outrun him and been through with it. No. This was something more. Something else was going on inside of little Nessie and I was completely stunned and void of explanation.

_I'm going to have to research this more. _

He reached out and grabbed her hoodie but she managed to jerk away from him. She screamed and ripped my heart to shreds. I heard him taunting her, telling her that he liked playing with 'fighting toys.'

_Oh hell no! You debauched rubbish. There's no way you'll get that chance!_

"NESSIE!" I called to her and the guy quickly turned his head to see who was behind him. I surprised him and he stumbled. He fell to the ground and tried to get up, but he knew his snatch attempt was busted. Nessie stopped running and turned around to see me swiftly closing the space between myself and her would-be attacker.

"Papa!" She shrieked. She was stricken with fear and despite possessing powerful abilities that she didn't fully understand, she seemed extremely frail. "Papa! Papa, come get me!"

"Stay right there, sweetheart." I called to her. "I promise I won't let him hurt you baby." I pounced on the varmint who was fit for either the grave or prison…I was slowly favoring a very _deep_ hole. "This will only take a minute."

He tried to tousle with me but it was pointless. I picked him up forcefully by his jacket and lifted him up so that his feet were about a two feet off the crowd. His eyes were fearful when he saw my black, menacing eyes, especially when he was introduced first hand to my brute strength. His heartbeat was drumming in my ears and he was sweating profusely. I grabbed his throat and tightened my hand until he was gasping for air.

"Daddy!" Alice was still in my earpiece.

I stood there glaring at this sorry excuse for a man, about to fulfill the unspoken wish he'd been begging for since I encountered him in that shop…death.

"Daddy!" Alice voice rang in my ear again.

I hurled him on the ground. He was gasping for air and gagging, but he got up and charged me, but I sidestepped him.

"Alice. I need for you to call 911." I said. "Tell them to make it quick, because I'd really hate for someone to have to be buried next to this _stench_." The guy looked at me strangely, obviously wondering who I was talking to and who or _what _I was period. Alice quickly responded and hung up the phone.

"Papa!" Nessie screamed, her voice quivering. "Papa! I want you Papa!" She called to me frantically reaching out for me.

He tried to run towards her but I darted to block his path. What the hell was he going to do? Take her hostage? His eyes widened again and I landed a blow to his gut with my knee. I had to be careful with this human garbage. One unlucky hit and it was over.

"Ugh!" He grunted holding his torso. "How did you-"

"You picked the _wrong_ child." I gritted through my teeth. I pushed him against the brick wall, cracking a few bricks. It took Heaven's army not to unleash the full strength of my rage out on him right then. It would be very hard to explain burying him in the wall to the local PD.

The guy fell to the ground and I proceeded to give him the equivalent of a good human ass stomping.

"You like to mess with young girls, dirt bag?" I asked, punching him in the face. I picked him up again and landed several gut busting fists to his ribs and lower abdomen. He was gasping for air, but he managed to reach up and punch me in the face. Of course, I didn't feel a thing. He did though when the bones in his hands broke.

He screamed and I landed several blows to his face before I threw him to the ground. I kicked him once more, sending him flying about a foot backwards. He hit the ground screaming and grasping his swelling hand. He rolled onto his side and shrieked like the punk he was into the cement.

"What the?" He choked on dust and blood.

I adjusted my neck and shoulders and assessed my clothing. Nothing was out of place. I rested on the balls of my feet in front of him and then assessed _his_ damage. He was a bloody mess. He would be okay, but definitely walk away with a good beat-down and a good memory of the consequences for trying to jack my little baby girl.

"You should consider yourself very lucky." I told him resisting the urge to split his skull. He looked up at me in pain.

I lowered my voice several octaves so Nessie would have trouble hearing. "You should thank God that my baby girl is standing over there watching. Otherwise, you would be seeing pieces of my Oxfords in your toilet for a week." He squinted his eyes. "You need help-you ill-fretted bastard. I hope you took a good look at my little angel over there. You'd better take a crystal clear memory of her sweet little face, because if you even _think _about come anywhere near her again, I will rip you to pieces and burn your body to purple smoke and ashes." With that I stood up and resisted another urge to kick him to sleep. He rolled over and cried out in sheer agony when his hand got caught between his body and the cement.

I turned to see Nessie sitting on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest. I ran to my little grand-baby-my joy, my love.

"Papa!" She heard me coming towards her and jumped into my arms. I enfolded her small body in my arms. She buried her tear stained face in the crook of my neck and sobbed. She was shaking and I held her tighter.

"Papa." She murmured against my neck. "Papa. He-he w-was going to…to…hurt m-mee." She cried.

"I'm right here, baby girl." I squeezed her tighter. "It's alright now baby. I wasn't going to let him hurt you baby. Shh. It's alright."

She cried harder.

"Papa's got you baby. I'm so sorry and I won't ever let anyone get that close to you again. I promise I will take care of you baby girl." I kissed her face and continued to soothe her. I sat down on the ground so she could relax on my lap.

My phone rang again.

"Alice?"

"I see that both of you are okay, so I'm okay. Daddy, don't worry. Everything will be fine." Nessie choked on her own saliva and started coughing.

"Daddy, it's a good thing that Forks PD has jurisdiction over that new mall they just built between Forks and Port Angeles. I was able to call Charlie and tell him what happened. I made him promise not to tell Bella or Edward until you had a chance to tell them. He thinks I'm in Forks and that I was with you all. He and his team are in route. Make up something if he asks where I am."

"Alright." I glanced over at the wounded man who was lying on the ground. He must have really been hurting because he made several failed attempts to get up and run.

"Charlie is pissed. I won't say anything to anyone here so you can have a chance to talk to Edward. He can tell Bella, but don't worry Daddy. They trust you and everything will be okay."

"Thanks baby." I hung up with her and rocked my angel in my arms while she calmed down. About five minutes later, I heard the sirens of the Forks Police Department. Alice had given them our exact coordinates and they came rushing down the alley. I stood up holding a sniveling, trembling Nessie on my hip. She wrapped her arms around my neck. She clung to me for dear life, desperately seeking security. Her face was puffy from crying and some of her brown hair was matted in her tears. She pressed her cheek against mine as we watched law enforcement rush in and apprehend the pedophile on the ground.

Charlie led the pack and once they had the situation under control, he walked over to us. He nodded and I returned it, but Nessie was still sniffling and trembling when he reached out for her. I reluctantly handed her over, but he _was_ Bella's father and he loved her and had just as much rights to her as I did. It wasn't that I thought he would hurt her. I wasn't thinking that at all because Charlie adored Nessie. It was just that after everything that happened I didn't want to let her out of my reach.

She went to him without hesitation, and he hugged her close to him. It broke my heart when she started soaking his uniform with frightened tears. He comforted her as I had and turned when a uniformed officer approached him and asked for further direction. He and Charlie conversed and I rubbed Nessie's back and stepped into her line of vision to let her know I was still there. Charlie instructed me to give my statement and I did, omitting parts of Nessie's tantrum in the store.

The officer left and I watched as they loaded the injured into the back of their police car amidst his protests that I was as hard as 'iron' and broke his hand. They ignored him and probably just wrote his ranting off as an 'angry fit.'

Charlie turned to face me with our little bundle still snuggled in his arms.

"What happened, Carlisle?" He asked. I detected a mix of confusion, accusation, and anger in his voice.

I crossed my arms defensively over my chest. "I just told the officer what happened. That chap decided today was a great day for an ass whipping." Charlie looked almost surprised when he heard my British accent, or maybe it was because I rarely spoke in this fashion. Either way, judging by the way he was looking at me, I must have seemed foreign to him.

He looked at me boldly, shooting invisible darts at me with his brown eyes. He pinned Nessie protectively against his body as if he was—shielding her from me?

_What?_

"Hope he doesn't file assault charges against you."

I could not believe my hearing. "I don't-" I paused and bit my lip for a moment to keep from saying something I would regret later. "I don't care _what _that shameless blighter does. Nessie is an innocent child! I have the right to protect her!"

"I'm not saying you don't, Carlisle. I would have done the same thing."

"Then what are you saying? Why are we discussing this?" I kept my voice calm but my venom was boiling. I wasn't one for losing my temper, so I focused on breathing to keep from overreacting.

"I'm saying he _might_. Anyway, I know what you told PD." He changed the subject. "I heard it all. I'm just trying to figure out _how_ she got out of your sight in this crowded mall. Where _were_ you?" He was confrontational and I had to do a quick mental lock to keep from putting him rightly in his place.

"I told you. We were inside of the store. While I was paying for our items, she wandered away." I respected Charlie's position of authority and appreciated his love for our granddaughter, but I wasn't going to allow him to make me out to be some careless, irresponsible slacker.

He looked around us. "I don't see any packages."

Now he was just being cynical. "You know Charlie you really don't care about packages when you're trying to prevent someone from taking your child." It was really none of his business where the items were. Besides, all of this didn't even matter now that Nessie was safe.

"I mean I just don't understand how you let a three year old get out of your sight long enough for some pervert to get next to her, let alone chase her down outside of a mall."

I sighed and tried to rub the frustration out of my forehead. I held my peace because if I opened my mouth right then I would probably be arrested for tongue assault. I liked Charlie. I did. I'd never had a problem with him and sincerely considered him to be a good man. He was family and I knew that he meant no harm. I took a few more seconds to calm down before I spoke because the last thing I wanted to do was to put enmity between him and me. Charlie was always around and I didn't want this type of fallout and confusion in our family.

Honestly, he was correct. I couldn't even justify arguing or being angry with him. I should have been more observant in that store. I knew that man was suspicious, and that Nessie was vulnerable. It was my responsibility to watch her…to take care of her and to keep her safe. I failed. I was a vampire for god's sake! A vampire who had superior senses. At the very least, I should have heard her walk away or heard her intended attacker leave to follow her. Charlie was right. I should have been more responsible.

"You're right Charlie." I said still rubbing my head. "I wasn't paying careful attention when she left the store." I exhaled secretly kicking myself in the gut for allowing myself to become so distracted that I didn't notice when she was no longer standing beside me.

Charlie smirked. "Makes you think twice about who you leave your kids with."

I dropped my head to maintain control. I was really trying to be reverent, but he insisted on offending my character. "Charlie with all due respect, you are way out of line here. I will admit that this resulted from my carelessness and for that I am very sorry, but I will not stand here and allow you to continue to insult me like this."

Charlie huffed and adjusted Nessie again who had stopped crying, but was looking like she wanted me to take her again. "Well good because I think it's best if I take Bell's little one home with me for the day."

My face tightened and I felt my fists clenching under my arms. My children entrusted _me_ with their child while they were away this weekend, _not_ Charlie and he wasn't going to stand there and treat me as if I were the culprit, the common criminal incapable of caring for her.

"Charlie." I started, inhaling the crisp air to help maintain my calm. "Please give Renesmee to me." I reached out for her but he jerked away. "Charlie this is completely ridiculous. Edward will be home shortly and the girl needs to be properly returned to _him_. Please give her to me so that I can carry her home and take care of her."

He rolled his brown eyes and brushed his curly hair out of his face. "_Now_ you want to take care of her? After you let some _thug_ get within arm's reach of her?" He turned to leave. "No disrespect to _you _Carlisle, but close should only count in a game of horseshoes. Never should anyone get that close to Nessie. That's not cool."

I stepped forward causing him to stop in his tracks.

"Charlie, I've not harmed Nessie. The situation is resolved and Nessie is quite traumatized by this ordeal. Now I am asking you kindly to please allow me to take her home. I don't want any trouble." I reached out to her again and she reached for me to take her but he held on.

"You threatening me?" I'd never seen Charlie behave so rashly and certainly not towards me. I was a little confused as to what had overcome him. I understood that he was upset about what had happened to Nessie, but to treat me with such disdain was uncalled for.

"Of course not, Charlie. Don't be rash." I swept my hair back out of my eyes. "Look Charlie. I respect your love for Nessie and I understand your need to protect her. I get that. What I don't understand is your desire to protect her from _me_. I love that little girl just as I love her mother and her father. That guy never had a chance in laying one finger on her." I said cockily.

_If only Charlie knew just how true that was._

There were two reasons that jerk wouldn't have harmed Nessie. First, he couldn't out run me or win a fight, and two Alice could see everything. Besides- I was still convinced that Nessie may have been able to offer some self-defense. He didn't even know what he'd gotten himself into.

"Well he got mighty close." He said sarcastically.

"_Look_ Charlie." I stuffed one hand in my jeans pocket and waved the other for emphasis between us. "There's no need to go back and forth with this. Edward and Bella left Nessie with me and she should be with me when they return. I assure you that she will be fine. There's no cause for worry."

Nessie started crying again and her tiny little lips started quivering. My baby wanted me, but I didn't want to just _take_ her from Charlie and be disrespectful. I waited patiently for him to honor my polite request.

"It's alright baby." I told her as her soft cries became louder. I reached out and stroked her back and Charlie looked up at her.

"Nessie, do you want to go home with him?" He asked much to my chagrin. He'd better thank God that I was a patient man. I remained silent but just shook my head in disbelief. Renesmee finally took her eyes off of me and look at Charlie.

"Papa." She whimpered when she looked at him. She looked tired and her head seemed heavy.

He smiled and squeezed her to him. "I'm right here, darling." He said. I knew she was referring to me, but obviously he thought she was referring to him. I held my peace. "I'm right here baby girl. You want me to take you home?"

I watched his arrogance intently, wondering how he was going to take this let-down. Nessie knew I loved her and she wanted me…her _Papa. _She pulled back and looked at Charlie and then looked back at me. I wanted to take her and be done with this once and for all. She was absolutely beautiful and quite pitiful at the moment. I smiled at her and she reached her arms out for me to take her. I step closer and took her and hugged her tenderly to my body. As I swayed back and forth with her, she rubbed my back as she always did when she hugged me.

"It's alright, sweetheart." I soothed her. Charlie looked disappointed and rightly so. He shouldn't have carried on with this foolishness like this. Nessie was always around me, but her parents had never kept her from Charlie. He spent time with her too and we equally shared her. Again, I reminded myself that this wasn't about Charlie trying to force Nessie to choose or 'pick a favorite.' This wasn't about him trying to dismiss me or even belittle me. He loved her and was _just_ concerned about her. "Are you ready to go?"

She nodded.

"Charlie, for what it's worth I respect your concern. Be assured that Nessie is in good hands. There are no hard feelings here."

He just stood there looking at me and then stared long and hard at Nessie. "She's beautiful just like Bells. When Bella was her age, she was always getting into accidents." He said stroking her hair. "Just want to keep her safe."

"And she will be." I said. I realized that he was somehow channeling protecting baby Bella to protecting baby Nessie. That was where all of this was coming from; from a deep rooted need to protect his girls. I could certainly understand every bit of that.

"Well." He clasped his hands. "Okay then. My apologies Carlisle."

"They are certainly accepted."

He leaned and kissed Nessie on her cheek. "Grandpa loves you baby girl."

"I love you, Grandpa." She whispered, yawning and rubbing her eyes.

He smiled. "Ya'll go on now." He tipped his hat to me. "Carlisle."

I nodded back. "Charlie. Feel free to stop by anytime."

"Will do."

I brushed past him with Nessie on my hip.

"Papa?" She asked softly.

"Yes, baby?"

"I want my Daddy."

_Now that did it. That tiny request finished me off. It was so precious and my chest constricted. I swallowed the emotional mass in the back of my throat._

"Well will be home shortly, Love. I promise as soon as he gets there, you can spend all the time you need with him."

"Okay."

Once we were finally inside my Mercedes, I fastened her in her booster seat and got in on the driver's side. I reached in my pocket and took out my phone while I waited for the car to warm up a little. Nessie had droopy eyes and I knew she would be sleep before we got home.

I had two missed calls from Alice and dialed her back. "Hey baby." I said when she picked up.

She giggled. "WHA…A…WOOW!" She laughed again. "Go Daddy!"

"Ugh!" I groaned.

My little pixie giggled again. "Way to open UP that can of whip ass Daddy. You worked a dent in that!"

"Ugh!" I groaned again. I had just lived a five course nightmare. I was not a violent man and it angered me that this lowlife would reduce me to fighting.

_Oh, for God's love!_

"Stop worrying Daddy. Edward and Bella aren't going to be angry with you. You didn't do anything wrong. And don't worry about Charlie. He's harmless. He's just being overprotective just like everybody else. Don't be surprise if Jasper and Emmett don't get you when you get home."

I shook my head. "Gee, thanks. Should I be prepared? I don't think I can stand much more."

She laughed. "Nah. They won't bother you."

I sighed. "Charlie has a right to be concerned. I hated to argue with him like that. He's a good man. I hope he understands that Nessie is always my priority when she's with me. He has to know I would never harm her. I just want Nessie to be okay following all of this."

"She will be. Listen Daddy. I have to go now because people are around if you get my drift…but I will text you later."

"Okay, Love. I'll talk to you later. Thank you Alice. I don't know what would have,"

"Don't do that Daddy. What's important is that you guys are okay…and you're welcome. Love you."

"Love you too, princess."

"Bye Daddy."

I hung up and glanced in the mirror at my sleeping grandchild. She was so fatigued. I left the mall parking lot, and Charlie waved at me as he passed me in his cruiser. I waved back.

_What a day. _

A/N: There were so many directions I could have taken this chapter in. First off, I think Nessie knows better. She should have never left. Second, I think Carlisle should have kicked that ass! You know I think SM made Carlisle so compassionate and patient that people tend to forget he is a very powerful vampire. I know in the movie Breaking Dawn Part II, they made him be beheaded first and I have a problem with that. I envision him to be much stronger than what SM and Summit reduced him to. Think about it. He was with the Volturi for a while, he has the ability to sustain himself solely on animal blood and has never had human blood unless he was changing someone, and he is a leader of one of the largest covens. I cannot envision him to be the insignificant "vanilla" vampire that he's been reduced to. I write him stronger, taller, faster, physically superior because to me that is what he is. Just because he is compassionate doesn't mean he doesn't protect his family when he has to. I think his character shines through here because he could have killed him and hid the body and the man would have never been heard of again, but he chose to just give him a good ass kicking. That's how I see him. Strength under control, but fearless and tough when necessary.

I think Carlisle has a point about Nessie not fighting back. That will require further exploration on his part.

Charlie…oh Charlie…now I like Charlie and I personally think he has a right to want to protect Nessie and he probably was caught up in the hype, but he was really, really on Carlisle. He knows Carlisle wouldn't hurt her, but I guess he was maybe thinking about when Bella was little and how much he would have wanted to protect her. I'm glad they apologized and Carlisle understood (finally) it really wasn't a personal attack against him.

Thank God for Alice.

Thanks for reading. TOTALLY TEAM CARLISLE. Please leave feedback.


	4. Naughty Princess

A/N: Thanks for all of you who reviewed the last few chapters. I am glad you are all enjoy the story so far. Thanks for reading.

Carlisle's POV

It took approximately twenty minutes for us to arrive home. I pulled into our garage and noted that the boys were not home yet. I was grateful for that but I knew I should probably call Edward and tell him what happened. I was dreading informing him that I'd almost allowed his precious daughter to possibly be assaulted or kidnapped.

"Aw man." I groaned behind my hand. I held my face in my hand and rubbed my temples with my fingers. "God why wasn't I more careful? Edward trusted me. How am I going to explain my carelessness? They probably won't ever trust me with Nessie again."

I sat there for a moment in silence, willing this day to be part of a bad dream that I couldn't wake up from. I shook my head at my own mistakes. _Carlisle how could you be so careless with that child? No matter how she was behaving, you should have kept a watchful eye on her. _

I groaned out loud again. "Oh, God. She could have been killed. She was so overcome by fear that she couldn't even defend herself. She's just a _baby. _A _mere_ baby."

I slowly opened the door and got out, stopping to inhale a breath of fresh air. _God I need strength. _Nessie was sleeping peacefully when I opened the backdoor to get her out. Her breath hitched when I unfastened her booster seat, but she remained asleep.

_Bless her heart. She's so tired. She's been through a lot today._

I carried her inside, careful not to wake her. I thought about taking her to her room on the third floor, but the thought of having her away from me was a little unnerving. She was safe in my home, but I was not ready to be separated from her. Besides, I didn't want her to awaken to an empty room and become afraid. I took her to our bedroom instead.

I adjusted the thermostat in the hall before I entered our bedroom to provide some heat for her. I walked over to our king sized bed and removed her coat, hat, and shoes. She stirred, but she was still sound asleep. I pulled the comforter back and adjusted her under it. She turned on her side and rested her head on my pillow.

I grabbed some sweatpants and a long sleeved, form fitting t-shirt and headed into the bathroom to shower to get the filth and stench of that garbage off of me. I made sure I locked the door because my little princess had a bad habit of barging in. She'd been through enough traumas for one day. She certainly didn't need to be walking in and seeing me naked.

_Perish the thought._

The hot water was relaxing, but I knew I shouldn't stay in too long. I wanted to 'rest' before Nessie woke up. I had quite a few things to discuss with her. For starters, her tantrum in the store was a no-no. Second, she knew better than to run off like that. She knew what she was doing and there was no excuse for that. I would be the first to admit that I should have been watching her more carefully, but she left that store because she was upset. That would need to be corrected right away. I wasn't blaming her because children would be children. I fully understood that, but Nessie intentionally left that store because she couldn't get her way, and I was unquestionably going to be discussing that behavior with her. It was maladaptive and _extremely_ dangerous, and as far as I was concerned, it was a behavior that ended today.

I settled on Esme's side of the bed, and relaxed my head on her pillow. Her smell was infused through this room and even more concentrated in our bed. I inhaled deeply and surrendered to calming effects of my wife's scent. She was always a source of relaxation for me, a beautiful, sensual end to the day.

I relaxed my arms behind my head and listened to the gentle humming of Nessie's slumber. She was sleeping soundly and seemed so peaceful; a sharp contrast from the shocking display of fear she'd shown in that alley earlier today. That truly baffled me. I didn't understand that all.

I completely understood that fear was an emotion induced by a perceived threat, which usually caused people quickly to pull away from that threat or hide from it. It was a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger. In short, fear was the ability to recognize danger leading to an urge to confront it or flee from it. In the medical world we called this fight-or-flight response.

In extreme cases of horror and terror, as with little Nessie, a freeze or paralysis response was possible. Some psychologists have suggested that there was only a small set of basic or innate emotions and that fear was one of them. All people have an instinctual response to potential danger, which was in fact important to the survival of all species. So in Nessie's case, her instinct could have been driving her to run rather than think.

Nessie was trying to avoid a situation that her mind told her was extremely dangerous. That was her innate response for self-preservation. She was trying to avoid eminent peril and therefore completely engulfed by her human fear response. That part I could understand. After all, the child was half human. Fear could be quite strong in humans and even stronger in vampires.

What I couldn't understand was- _why_ didn't her inhuman instincts kick in? I could only conclude that Nessie's instinctual fear somehow caused her to forget that she was more than a little human girl. Her humanity took over and overshadowed her supernatural abilities. Maybe it was because of her age. Was her age somehow fueling her inability to recognize her supernatural powers in crisis? Did it impede upon her judgment and reasoning when under extreme trauma?

As a physician, I was aware that people develop specific fears as a result of learning. One of my many doctorate degrees was in human psychology and I understood the psychological concept of fear conditioning. In the human world, fear could be acquired by a frightening traumatic accident. For example, if a child fell into a pool and struggled to get out, he or she could develop a fear of pools or water in general.

I guess it could be argued that she might have learned that fear response when Aro and his hounds came, and that would indeed be a valid argument. That was quite terrifying for her and she still had nightmares about it, so it stood to reason that she had learned to run rather than fight. That made sense to me. She and Jacob ran and didn't fight, and she did the same in this situation. She possessed the same powers then that she had now, and although she would never have survived, she did have ability to fight just as she had in the alley. The exception was she would have won in the alley.

So from a physiological and psychological perspective, I could reasonably conclude that my half-bred grandchild needed to be educated on the functions of her supernatural abilities and her response to dangerous, life threatening situations. She knew she had them, but knowing how to use them other than during playtime with her family was the missing piece. She needed to be taught that the human emotion of fear made her vulnerable to danger. It was perfectly fine to have fear, but she needed to rely on her inhuman instincts for protection when she found herself in hazardous situations.

It was a known fact that vampires were hypersensitive to everything, including fear. I'd experienced a similar reaction to Nessie's when Edward went to Italy to have himself killed because he thought Bella was dead. I was so psychological traumatized by Edward's suicide mission that I almost went into hysteria. The very _thought_ of my son-my dear child in the hands of Aro and his unprincipled guard sent every fiber of my being into the black abyss of psychosis. Not too mention that Alice and Bella were also in danger.

When I found out that my children were in Italy, I was livid. If it were not for Esme and the boys, I don't know what I would have done. They were the ones who prevented me from getting on that plane to Italy, and truthfully I didn't recall ever being that afraid of anything in my entire life. The thought of losing Edward was too much. He was mine; my firstborn son, and I was living in _absolute_ terror and horror while he was gone. Then Alice was caught in that mix and I wasn't sure if she would escape unharmed either. It was all just too much. I couldn't work. I couldn't hunt. Esme and I were on a cliff of devastation, but we still had to keep it together for the rest of our children. It was truly a lacerating experience.

When they arrived safely at the airport, I nearly crushed them from hugging them so tightly. Edward understood how much his decision to try to end his existence nearly destroyed his mother and me. If he were a human boy, I would have had more sympathy and would have tried to seek professional help for him. But this was not the case. Edward was a hundred plus years old. He wasn't suicidal. He was allowing love to blind his judgment and made a rash and near fatal mistake. In my opinion, there was a big difference.

Once he was safe and sound in the comfort of our home, and when everyone was settled, I went on a hunting trip for two weeks. I took that long because I needed to purge my senses and recover from the physical and mental crisis I'd endured. I'd physically suffered because I hadn't hunted in almost three weeks, and mentally because I could have lost my children. I also needed to get away because I was angry-no furious because Edward's blind teenage love fling had now put him and Alice on Aro's radar. He knew of their gifts as well Bella's. His intentional wrecklessness had destructive ramifications with arms that reached far into our future. He had set the stage for intrusion into our peaceful existence. He'd left the door wide open for a permanent looming threat of invasion by Aro and his guard. That whole battle with Aro in the clearing was a direct result of that senseless trip to Italy. We could have lost Nessie because of his careless decisions. Aro tried to wash over it by saying that Nessie was a potential threat, but I knew him. He wanted my children in his guard. They were valuable to him and if it meant destroying my family to get them, then that's what he would do.

Being alone and engaged in that two week hunt helped me focus and regain stamina. I was able to clearly assess the damage to our family, potential threats and dangers to my coven, and more importantly it helped me to understand what had transpired with my son and his new found love and how that would impact my family henceforth. It helped me release my anger toward everything and everyone. It was a time of healing and clarification-purfication and finding peace. I stayed in the forest until I felt my anger and fear subside completely. I could not face my son until I had put those feelings behind me. When I returned home, I felt nothing but love for him and sadness that he would try to end his own life.

That was what hurt the most. That he felt that he had absolutely nothing else to live for but Bella. He knew how much our family loved him. I was glad that I'd been in the forest for a while. I needed to get past the anger and to the point where I understood that Edward was indeed hurting and that his suicide mission was a cry for help. I didn't support it for said reasons, but I knew in order to move forward with him, we had to get to the core of the problem. We had a long discussion about it, but that wasn't enough to drive home just _how_ devastating and inexcusable his actions were.

At the time, neither one of us knew that he would soon after have a child of his own, and just how much this venture to Italy would almost destroy our family. He needed to understand the severity of his insane decision to go to Italy, so I made a conscious choice to whip him-something that I had not done in many years. Whipping wouldn't change history, nor would it erase possible threats. It may not even prevent future incidences, but it would send him the message that we were not 'okay' with what he did. Esme and I had hoped that punishing him would at least help him stop and consider his actions before he did them again in the future. That was all we could hope to gain from it. The damage was done, and we were still struggling with that fallout.

It was not an easy decision because Edward had always been my easy child. With the exception of his rebellious streak, he had never been bothersome—no more than the occasional back talking or typical teenage drama. Just like any kid, he roll his eyes and gave me grief when I told him he couldn't do something or go somewhere, but it was never anything all that bad. For the most part, he behaved himself and acted like a very mature young adult rather than a teenager. Oddly enough, there were times when I even found myself wishing he would lighten up a bit…let his hair down and be a kid.

I'd sent everyone out of the house, and made the tough decision to forego my hand and the belt for his punishment. The final verdict was to whip him with my strap. He'd protested, but he knew I was unrelenting. He also knew that his behavior was unjustifiable and he finally submitted.

I'd chosen to bypass my traditional over-the-knee or over-the-desk whipping. This time I did it right in the living room. He was fearful that someone would walk in, but truthfully it wouldn't have mattered. He was in line for that whipping and it would take place no matter who came in.

Normally, I would have given him an opportunity to talk, but I'd decided that we had done enough talking. Once I came back upstairs with the strap, Edward intercepted my thoughts and much like his daughter did today, went into fear mode. He'd begged me not to whip him, and apologized over and over for what he'd done, but my resolve was strong.

I'd ordered him to bend over the couch, and after several minutes of crying and pleading, I began whipping him, setting a blaze to his backside, all the while repeating his love affair with disaster and death back to him. He pleaded for me to stop, and I took advantage of the opportunity to explain the irony in the whole situation. He would allow himself to be at the mercy of Aro's vultures, but afraid of a piece of leather. Really?

It wasn't pleasant, and I would admit that I was exceptionally unforgiving on his backside. I didn't have to ask him to remove a single article of clothing because the fire that strap lit could and would be felt for a very long time. It hurt me to do that to him, but I knew it had to be done. By the time that whipping was over, he was broken. While he was sobbing uncontrollably, I made him sit on the couch. This time there was no immediate comfort or hugs like I usually gave after I punished him. I left him and went to my room for a while. It wasn't until a few hours later that I'd returned to find him still on the couch where I'd left him.

We talked and I apologized for nothing. I granted him full access to my mind so he knew that I wasn't playing games with him. I was tougher on him than I'd ever been because I loved him. He knew what he did was ignorant and completely unnecessary. He cried for the duration of the conversation and I'd intentionally held back the affection that I wanted to give him. My son understood the severity of his actions that night. I really believed that he wouldn't be repeating them again.

The next morning, the others were still gone on their hunting excursion, and I heard him crying in his bedroom. He had literally 'kept me up' all night crying. He was feeling remorse for what he'd done, but mostly downtrodden for bringing danger to the entire family and for hurting us so badly—mainly me. He was beating himself up for putting Alice and Bella in danger, and inflicting this much pain on his family. Mostly he was afraid that I didn't love him anymore-that our bond was broken. He was afraid that I would never trust him again, that our friendship was destroyed. I didn't have to be a mind reader to know this. I knew this because I knew him. He was my son. I knew everything about him.

He was buried under his covers when I'd gone to him in his bedroom. There was no way he was cold, so I'd gathered that he was finding consolation and security in that bedding. He'd suffered through much turmoil. The combination of Bella's disasterous birthday party, him leaving and finding out Bella was 'dead,' the suicide attempt, and finally his punishment all culminated with the abandoment of my affection. He was shattered...a fragmented ghost of his former self. He had nothing left to give, and he felt that if I'd withdrawn my love, he had nothing more to lose either.

I shook my head now remembering how my heart split when I'd gently called his name and he started sobbing harder. He'd sat up in his bed and while reaching out to me behind blinding tears, he said, _"Dad, please."_ Those two words finally broke me. They sealed the conclusion of that horrendous ordeal. His body was trembling from sobbing so hard, and I joined him under his security blankets, finally giving him the love and attention he so desperately sought and needed from his father. I secured him in my arms and he released that dam of tears and mental anguish he'd been holding for months. I allowed myself to cry with him. We wept for everything that had happened, and I held him for the better part of the day while we painfully sorted the rubblish from our relationship. I loved my son and he loved me. That was all I could say about that. The most important thing was that I still had him, and he was very much alive and well.

Now as I rested next to his young daughter, he sent me another text message stating they would be home shortly. Before I had a chance to respond Nessie stirred next to me.

"Papa." She whispered behind the covers.

"Yes, baby?" I turned on my side and tenderly brushed her curly brown locks out of her face.

"I have to use the bathroom." Her voice was so soft that if I didn't have excellent hearing I wouldn't have heard her clearly.

I smiled at her. "Okay, baby. Go on." She crawled from under the covers and headed to the bathroom that Esme and I shared. "Do you need my help?"

"No."

I watched her tread to the bathroom looking like a walking baby doll. She had always been an adorable well-mannered child. That's why it really caught me off guard when she threw a fit in that toy store today. Usually if we told her to do something she obeyed with no problem, but today her behavior just totally took me by surprise. I wasn't ignorant to the fact that children in her age range threw tantrums. Hell, my children were centuries old and they threw tantrums all the time. I fully understood that, but I just wasn't expecting that from my angel.

All young children from time to time whined, complained, resisted, and defied their teachers and parents. Temper tantrums, although normal, was often upsetting to parents because they were embarrassing, challenging, and difficult to manage. This was the case with Nessie today. I was quite embarrassed and as a result of her tantrum, she ended up walking away from me, and then the situation escalated to catastrophe before I could blink.

"Nessie? Are you alright, sweetheart?" I called to her.

"Yes." She barely whispered.

Parenting five children of my own had taught me a lot of things, and had unquestionably strengthened my patience. Juvenile tantrums from my kids were short-lived because they knew I would knock them off block if I had to, but I had learned a number of alternative ways to handle their fallouts. My strategy had always been to remain calm and not argue with them. I'd done that with Nessie in the store. I'd tried to be firm with her, and not yell at her. It didn't work, but I tried anyway.

Purchasing and donating Nessie's new toys to another child was not out of line. I felt that she needed to witness the consequences of her actions and that if she could not appreciate her blessings, some other child would. My father would have done _exactly _the same thing, except he would have busted my backside right then and there in front of everyone. You can't do that these days without someone yelling child abuser and risking being arrested and thrown in jail. That was a different era then, a different way of thinking. That was completely acceptable discipline back then, but by today's standards people flamed you for just speaking harshly to a child. It was a wonder we have empty jails and prisons anywhere in this country. Children these days didn't realize just how easy they had it.

Now, the big question was how I would address her errant behavior. I needed to make sure that Nessie understood that what she did was wrong. First of all it was not okay for her to be disrespectful to me and throw a fit because she couldn't have her way. Secondly, she was wrong for leaving that store because that put her in harm's way. If nothing else those were two lessons that I needed her to learn from this.

I could ground her and I was sure Edward and Bella would support that. Since she wasn't a typical child, and could read, write, and enjoy more advanced level games, so grounding would be sufficient. She could benefit from time-out where she could think about what she did.

"Nessie?" She'd been in the bathroom for about fifteen minutes. She was quiet so I decided to get up and go check on her. I knocked on the door and I heard her sniffling. "May I come in baby?" She didn't answer me so I opened the door and stepped into the bathroom. She was still sitting on the toilet with her underwear down crying into her hands. I walked over to her. "Nessie, everything is going to be alright baby."

She shook her head no and hid her face with her hands. "I don't want to be in trouble."

Now that things had calmed down, it was time for us to talk about the frustration she'd experienced. I needed to help her get to the root of the problem if possible, and to help her avoid future episodes. I planned to try to show her some problems solving skills to help her avoid temper tantrums such as the one she had. Nessie was very intelligent. She could grasp complex concepts and I didn't doubt she could easily control herself if she wanted to. She could stop and think and event formulate a plan, just as the risky one she made to leave the store. She would certainly understand what it meant to express her feelings in words and recognize the feelings of others without hitting and screaming.

I sighed and knelt in front of her. I gently lifted her chin so I could see her face. Her long ringlets covered it, so I moved them to the side. She sniffled.

"You know Papa loves you right, Nessie?" I asked. That was the first thing I needed her to understand. Above all else, she was my heart and the love I had for her could not be erased by one bad day.

"Yes."

"Are you finished using the bathroom sweetheart?" She nodded.

"Do you need my help?"

She was sitting there crying, with excrement still on her. At twenty months, Nessie was potty-trained and was capable of cleaning herself properly, but since she was crying I thought it would be a good gesture to offer her some assistance. I wasn't bothered at all by anything concerning the human or not so human body, so the task wasn't daunting in the least. She nodded and I proceeded to help her clean up so I could take her back to the bedroom where she would be more comfortable. Once we finished and washed up, I carried her back to the bed.

"How are you feeling Nessie?" I asked as she snuggled under the covers again. She reached for me and I sat down beside her.

"Papa, are you mad at me?" She asked sitting up against the headboard.

"Of course not, sweet girl." She didn't look convinced. "I could never be mad at you sweet pea." I pulled her into a hug. "I love you Nessie. You're my little girl."

She smiled innocently. "Papa how can I be _your _little girl if I'm my _Daddy's_ little girl?"

I returned her smile. "Because your daddy is my big baby and because you're his little baby that makes you my baby too."

She giggled. "Daddy isn't a _baby_ Papa."

"He's always going to be my baby." I shifted my weight on the bed. "Nessie I think we need to talk about what happened at the mall today. I'm not mad at you, but I was very disappointed when acted out in the store. Not only that, but I was very afraid when I turned and you were gone."

She groaned. "Do we have to talk about it?"

I nodded. "Yes. We do. What you did was serious Nessie. It was wrong, and we can't have that kind of behavior in the future."

"Papa, am I in trouble?" She asked.

"Yes you are sweetheart. What you did today was very dangerous." I offered gentle chastisement. "You could have been harmed."

She stuck her lips out. "Papa, you wouldn't buy those baby clothes." I gave her a stern look. She knew I was referencing her leaving the store. She rolled her eyes and raised her hands. "That's hardly dangerous, Papa."

"Don't sass me Renesmee." I said, keeping my voice low and firm. "I'm not playing with you. That man was a stranger, and he could have possibly harmed you. I'm very disappointed in you for leaving that store, and for that you will be punished as well as for throwing that tantrum. Now don't sit there and take that wise attitude with me."

Her chocolate eyes filled to the hilt with tears that instantly spilled over. "You promised me toys."

"And I gave you an opportunity to choose the toy you wanted. You acted out because I told you that you couldn't have all of those clothes. You would have left with the bear and an outfit. That was more than enough toys for you, Nessie. There's no need to be greedy. You know better than to behave like that. We were having a great time Nessie until you started showing out. Why would you do that baby?"

"Because I wanted those clothes." She admitted. The child was relentless.

"Nessie, you cannot behave that way just because I tell you that you can't have something."

"But you always buy me what I want."

"No that is _not_ true Nessie. There are many times I refuse you, and the real point is when I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it. Do you understand baby?"

"Yes."

"Why did you leave the store Nessie?" I moved on the bed and she pulled the covers tighter to her chest.

"Because you gave away my toys!" She accused. "You gave them to another girl."

"Why do you think I did that Nessie?" I asked.

"Because you were being mean?"

"_Really_? Do you think I was doing that to be mean to you Nessie?"

"Yes."

"Nessie, you don't really believe that. Stop that. You know that I gave your toys to another child because you were being very disrespectful sweetheart. Nessie you are very blessed. You are blessed with a family who loves you and is able to take care of you and buy you all kinds of nice things. You have more in the top drawer of your chest at home than most children will have in their entire childhood. Your behavior today was very disturbing, sweet pea. Do you know that there are some little girls who would kill to have a chance to go into a store and pick out a brand new toy of their own? That's why I gave the toys away. You were being very ungrateful, dear one."

She wiped her eyes. "But Papa,"

"Don't but Papa me, Nessie. I asked you to stay by my side for your own protection. You chose to disobey me and left. Where were you going Nessie?"

She sniffled harder. "I was going to find the car."

I exhaled and shook my head in utter disbelief. "Nessie you can't just wander off to go find the car on your own baby. You see what happened? That man followed you out of the mall and for the better part you didn't even know he was behind you. Nessie…baby you simply cannot separate yourself from an adult like that. What if you had gotten lost and couldn't find the car? If Aunt Alice wasn't watching us, I might not have been able to find you."

"But…but I can read signs Papa, and I remembered where we parked." She looked so innocent. "We were parked in section C."

"That is not the point baby." I exhaled and crawled up to the headboard and pulled her into my lap. This child was too smart for her own good. "The point is that something terrible almost happened to you today. Do you realize how scared and worried I was?"

"I didn't mean to scare you Papa. Papa, please don't be mad."

"I'm not mad honey. I'm just relieved that nothing happened and I stopped that bad man from harming you. Nessie running is not how you deal with your problems. It is never okay for you to run away."

She nodded again. "Papa, are you going to tell my Daddy and Mommy what I did?"

"Yes I am sweetheart. They have a right to know. Even if your father wasn't a mind reader, I would not keep that secret from him or your mother."

Her eyes filled with tears and she started crying and shaking her head. "I don't want you tell them, Papa. I don't want my Daddy to know, Papa."

"Why not, honey."

"Because Daddy will spank me." She cried. "I don't want a spanking."

I was about to comment when I heard Edward and his brothers filing in the kitchen. I immediately changed my thoughts. I wasn't sure if Nessie changed hers.

"Dad! Nessie! We're home!" Edward called to us. Nessie grabbed my shirt and clung to me for dear life. "Dad?"

I heard him coming upstairs and soon appeared in my doorway. He rapped softly on the door and he peeped in. "Dad? Everything okay?"

He saw Nessie crying and was no doubt trying to figure out why I was blocking him and his face instantly transformed with worry.

"Dad what's going on?" He asked walking into the room. I shifted Nessie on my lap so that she was facing him. She ducked her head in my chest, sniffling.

He stopped short of us and took in the sight of his naughty little Princess. "Oh." He said, looking at me for explanations to the story Nessie's mind was already telling him. "I see."

A/N: Oh my. Edward is home and he knows what has happened. Nessie is in hot water but Edward isn't the one who will be teaching her a sound lesson.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Please review.


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